ADDENDUM TO

“DESIGN AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS OF FREE-STANDING MASTS AND WINGMASTS”

6th CHESAPEAKE SAILING YACHT SYMPOSIUM, MARCH 1983

AUTHOR’S NOTE:
The following inquiry came to me from a student of naval architecture in England requesting design and engineering
information regarding free-standing masts. As far as I know, this paper is the only one that describes the really
practical design and engineering aspects of such masts. The paper was not without errors, and some time ago, I
prepared a clean and corrected copy that could be photocopied and mailed to any interested parties. Now in this day
of computer files and the Internet, I have scanned the paper into this .pdf file and am attaching this note. In my
response to the student in England, I prepared the following remarks describing my thoughts on this science. I have
deleted any personal references to the student, and offer these remarks to all others that may be interested.

Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect,
St. Augustine, FL
2 February 2011

From: Eric W. Sponberg [mailto:ewsponberg@comcast.net]

Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 10:10 AM
Subject: RE: Incoming message from website--D&E of Free-standing Masts & Wingmasts

Dear ---------,

Thank you for your interest in free-standing masts. I wrote probably the only definitive
paper ever on free-standing masts, for the 6th Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium in
1983. There were a few errors in it as it was printed, so I created a corrected copy and
have scanned it into a PDF file. This is attached. There are some other things that you
should note about this paper for consideration when designing free-standing masts:

1. The mechanical properties of composite laminates shown in Table II on page 74 are

very “ideal”. You don’t get properties like that in real life boatbuilding. I’d cut those
numbers at least in half.

2. On page 80, on section shape buckling, I discuss the need to find a way to determine
the necessary thickness required to prevent section shape buckling. In my subsequent
research, I have determined that for unidirectional laminates such as cantilevered
masts, whose laminate is not more than 80% unidirectional fiber, nor less than 50%
unidirectional, then the minimum wall thickness of a solid (non-cored) laminate required
to prevent buckling is 3% of inside diameter. That is, the minimum t/ID ratio =
0.03. This applies to the mast wall thickness at any height, any diameter. I use the
inside diameter because practically all my designs start with the controlled surface as
the inside surface of the mast (that is, the masts are laid up over male mandrels).

3. Related to #1, on page 85, Table A-3, I show carbon fiber laminate properties which
were typical of my engineering at the time. However, I have found these to be overly
optimistic, and I typically use properties that are about half these amounts.
4. On pages 86 and 87 in Appendix A, I show how the boat’s maximum righting moment
is used as the definitive load for the mast. Although I go through a calculation on page
85 to determine wind loads in the sails, it really is the righting moment load of the hull
that is the definitive load for the mast. All you need to do is determine this maximum
righting moment of the boat, spread that as a constant between the partners and the
gooseneck, and then taper that moment load in a straight line down to each end. You
will still need a factor of safety; I typically use a factor of safety of 3.0, either by
multiplying the max. righting moment load by the FoS and using the full strength
capabilities of the laminate, or use the max. righting moment load and divide the full
strength properties by 3.0 reducing them to allowable stresses. That is how I still do it.

5. In Appendix B, I show similar calculations for a wingmast. In determining the section

shape properties (I and SM) of a wing shape, I approximate the trailing edge as straight
sided (Fig. B-5, page 91). Nowadays, it is relatively easy to calculate the actual section
shape properties (by spreadsheet, or by AutoCad “mass properties” command), so
there is no need for shape approximations anymore.

6. I do not show in this paper how to do deflection calculations. That is a process that I
developed later, after this paper was written. Typically, a free-standing mast is tapered,
both in section shape and wall thickness. Therefore, section area, I and SM vary all
along the mast. If you follow regular cantilever beam engineering and calculus
principles, you can do a double integration of M/(ExI) all along the mast to determine the
tip deflection. I will leave it up to you and your professors to figure out how that is
done. Be sure that you “normalize” the calculation to take into account that the mast
heel and the deck partners do not move—they are stationary. I do this on a
spreadsheet. By the way, the amount of deflection that you are looking for live-load
sailing conditions, not max. righting moment conditions. So you have to change the
moment load down from the maximum righting moment load to a regular sailing load,
say and Force 4 or Force 5 wind speed.

7. I offer this paper to you AND your school. Please make a copy of this paper, and this
email which contains these guidelines, and give it to your engineering library for all
future student use.

Good luck on your design.

Best regards,

Eric

Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect
President
Sponberg Yacht Design Inc.
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 3:00 PM
To: ewsponberg@sponbergyachtdesign.com
Subject: Incoming message from website

Name: ----------------------
Company: Southampton Solent University
Telephone:
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---------------------------------
Comments:
Dear Mr. Sponberg, I am a second year Yacht Design student at Southampton Solent University.
I am currently designing a 25ft sloop for amateur construction using strip planking techniques.
During some lectures about mast analysis, as part of a structural analysis unit at university, I was
surprised by the amount of compression produced by conventional rigs in the mast. This is why I
started researching about free standing masts, and apparently you are one of the main supporter
and experts of this type of rigging. I am starting to consider this as a possible solution for my
project, so I would like to estimate loads and required sections for a free standing wing mast.
Where can I find some good engineering information about free standing rig design? Most of the
books I have skimmed trough do not consider this option, can you suggest me something? Best
Regards -----------------